Strange playgrounds, huh!?! Sounds like my lunchtimes as a kid with the lesbian prostitute nuns who raised me.
Just by chance, Strange Playgrounds is, also, the name of George Daniel Lea’s new book. This generous chap of spookily literary ambitions is also planning to donate all proceeds of the book to a LGBT charity.
To find out more about the book and charity project, be sure to check out the teaser trailer, below:
(The Carrie remake will be upon us on October 18th – thus we celebrate the strong women in horror, science fiction and exploitation with Countdown to Carrie!)
A lost opportunity? Plenty of others floating around. A lost love? One gets over that soon enough. But – a lost slasher film?!? Now, there is a reason for heartache!
Thankfully, 1990’s little seen Deadly Manor (AKA Savage Lust) has recently surfaced on DVD. What makes this piece of slice ‘n dice so interesting is the fact that its delusional, knife wielding villain is actually a villainess named Amanda – played with gumption by low budget genre regular Jennifer Delora (Frankenhooker, Deranged, Robot Holocaust).
That this film is directed by Jose Ramon Larraz of Vampyres fame only adds to the film’s allure. Larraz spends just as much time focusing on Amanda’s psychotic angst as his frolicking victims – making one wish that Amanda could have joined Sleepaway Camp‘s Angela as a fellow terror bound sequel queen.
Be sure to check back here often for the haunted women of horror.
(The Carrie remake will be upon us on October 18th – thus we celebrate the strong women in horror, science fiction and exploitation with Countdown to Carrie!)
Now, here are the true Twins of Evil! Granted, sisters Audrey and Judy Landers, born two years apart, aren’t twins in real life – but they did wind up rocking both identical costumes and fits of homicidal jealousy in the “Split Decision” episode (1983) of the horror anthology series The Hitcher.
Portraying daughters of a former stage magician, these two sexily mischievous wonders soon have a conniving real estate man (played with sleazy ease by Jackson Davies) on the romantic run-around. But, this poor fellow doesn’t pay attention when informed, early on, that the two never share. Thus, the episode’s title has special import for him during the show’s ending moments.
Performance-wise, Judy portrays her scenes with Davies with a careless nonchalance that can be chilling while Audrey’s eyes burn with magnetic fury throughout most of the episode. The result is two strongly off-kilter performances from women known mostly for comedy and soap opera dramatics.
Tasty!:
Be sure to check back for more quick profiles on the wicked women of horror.
The other day someone zapped me with a homemade ketchup gun at work and as my body, momentarily, turned skeletal, all I could think was “Tom Graeff”!
Thankfully, Graeff, the gay mastermind behind cult 1959 science fiction epic Teenagers from Outer Space is, also, on the minds of the brilliant duo of Jim Tushinski and Elle Schneider. While, Graeff eventually descended into religious fanaticism and suicide, Tushinski (who is writing a book on Graeff) and Schneider (who is prepping a documentary on the man) are interested in his complex creative side, something he indulged in during a time when homosexuality was rarely spoken of.
To find more about Graeff, his shorts films and Teenagers (which many state to be a precursor to The Terminator), be sure to visit Tushinski at http://www.tomgraeff.com and Schneider at http://www.tomgraeff.org.
It’s always been Big Gay Horror Fan’s dream to be trapped in a house with three, hot young women!
No, seriously.
Well…okay, maybe not.
Still, for all those for whom this is a grand fantasy, 4 Dead Girls: The Soul Taker illustrates how terrifying this scenario actually could be.
After discovering something unfortunate has happened to the sexy Bianca (voluptuous Tiffany S. Walker), Lori and her lover, Pam, along with her reserved sister Lily, soon find themselves trapped in the home that they are currently renting – with a demon that is hungry to consume their (nasty) souls.
What is ultimately most striking about this film, co-written and directed by Mike Campbell and Todd Johnson, is how it gets you to, ultimately, define what evil means to you. Nalusa Chito, the villainous soul taker here, entraps the various characters due to their promiscuity and adultery. Personally, I don’t believe those deeds make someone a bad person. Of course, someone still smarting, emotionally and medically, from a betrayal may totally disagree with me!
Those having seen the notorious Class Reunion Massacre (AKA The Redeemer: Son of Satan from 1978), in which lesbianism is portrayed as a deadly sin, may also find it interesting to see how Campbell and Johnson handle Lori (an agreeable Ashley Love) and Pam (vibrant Leah Verrill), the gay couple. Though Pam earns Chito’s consideration for her past actions, Lori is presented as a truly good woman. Pam earns viewer sympathy, though, for a pre-mayhem phone call wherein her father disowns her for being gay.
Aside from social issues, Campbell and Johnson manage a couple of nice moments of suspense involving Chito (a smooth Mike Campbell) and the performances of the main actresses jell nicely as the proceedings get taut and deadly. (Although, the opening moments involving the quartet do come off as awkward and false.) In particular, Katherine Browning, as Lily, makes for a haunted and resourceful final girl. You genuinely care for her by the film’s waning moments.
Whenever I wake up, bloodied and dangling from a cliff, wearing only my Miley Cyrus underwear, I often wonder why there isn’t someone around to help me out! Well, count my worries as being over, for amazing genre icon Deborah Dutch (Hard to Die, Sorority Girls and the Creature from Hell, Graduation Day) has created the heroine to end all heroines, the Hollywood Warrioress.
Long a dream project of the vibrant Dutch, this action-fantasy flick (with heart) has recently completed filming. The generous Dutch has begun sharing clips from the project and, here, are a couple scenarios to whet your appetite:
Be sure to check back often for more on Dutch and the Hollywood Warrioress.
Oh, the lesbian prostitute nuns who raised me might not like this at all! But, as we live to defy our parents, I have to give full props to director-writer Shawn Ewert and his latest film Sacrament.
Sacrament, which exploits its hick horror vibe to maximum potential by featuring Texas Chainsaw Massacre veterans Marilyn Burns and Ed Guinn, concerns a gay couple and their friends whom encounter a group of backwoods, murderous religious freaks. Add a tagline stating “Sinners 4 Dinner” to the mix and this project ends up sounding like a delicious dose of independent horror, no?
Let’s face it, half the fun of horror and exploitation is seeing some hot bodies frolicking around in the buff. And while I worship the female form, I believe exploitation definitely veers into the exploitive when only gorgeous women are on display while their male counterparts remain chastely buttoned up. Therefore, The Backside of Horror salutes the filmmakers and actors whom even up the score a bit by showing us instances of hot and juicy male flesh in their bloody celluloid fantasies.
If you like your lamb chops in a van – then Bloody Birthday is the film for you!
Filled to the brim with bountiful breasts (including those of comedienne-writer-singer Julie Brown), Ed Hunt’s fairly beloved slasher Bloody Birthday (1981) also contains a nice spectacle of male nudity when handsome John Avery (as Boy in Van) and his onscreen paramour Sylvia Wright, playing Girl in Van (naturally), try to escape the murderous machinations of the young Curtis (played by Billy Jayne of Nightmares, Cujo and Demonwarp).
They are unsuccessful, of course, but not before lucky viewers get a buttocks heavy view of the flailing Avery!
Viva, psycho kid killers!!
Be sure to check back often for more of the Backside of Horror.
If you are asking yourself if it’s really a good thing that character actor Wilford Brimley (John Carpenter’s The Thing, beloved 80’s slasher Death Valley) has released 3 recordings since 1990, consider this. Brimley, himself, has stated that he isn’t much of singer. But his love of music and, most importantly, the joy he receives from collaborating with talented jazz musicians has led him to enjoy a modest side career of sorts.
Indeed, Brimley talk-sings most of his numbers such as “Being Green” and the title song on his first release, I’m Old Fashioned. But, as noted by several music critics of far more import than I, occasionally this mild prankster indulges in a phrase or two that actually places him in the ranks of the finest singers.
Besides, can you really fault an arctic miner for having a good time, now and then?
Until the next time – SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan!
Who can forget sneaking Fangoria in the house as a 13 year old, getting caught by your parents and then being sent to counseling for loving all that was violent and gory! Memories.
Well, Fangoria can’t be too bad if the classy Julie Adams agreed to be interviewed by moi for the online edition! Check out what this accomplished lady has to say about rewriting Creature from the Black Lagoon and more!
And if you’re in the Midwest, be sure to come and meet Adams at (one of) two 3-D screenings of the Creature at the historic Patio Theatre on September 28th: https://www.facebook.com/events/437861749665419/
As always, until the next time – SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan!
Big Gay Horror Fan 